5 ms·
Laboratory layered latte
- hprotagonist 9y agoSometimes i read a paper and wonder if the authors are actually gunning for an Ignobel nomination. I prefer serendipitous nominations, I think.
- pcl 9y agoThis brings to mind Einstein's paper on meanders in rivers, in which he builds a solution from the behavior of tea leaves swirling in a teacup. I don't think we should discard the value of the work based solely on the quotidian nature of the examples. (That said, I don't know enough about fluid dynamics to judge whether there's something novel going on in the paper, or if it's just people being clever.) https://books.google.com/books?id=9fJkBqwDD3sC&pg=PA249&lpg=PA249 https://books.google.com/books?id=9fJkBqwDD3sC&pg=PA249&lpg=...
- SonOfLilit 9y agoEh, a physicist friend of mine working on his PhD noticed something interesting in his tea during a tea break with his labmates and they went and researched it. Had the result turned out more interesting they might have published, and maybe being nominated for an Ignobel. It's not about gunning for, it's about curious people researching whatever they happen to touch, which is usually a cup of hot beverage.
- saulrh 9y agoI wonder if you could do this with similar metal alloys to get an ingot that changes physical properties along its length - for example, a bar that's harder on one end but more elastic on the other.
- blacksmith_tb 9y agoThat sounds similar to Powder Metallurgy[1] which we use to make otherwise impossible alloys possible. 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powder_metallurgy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powder_metallurgy
- bocklund 9y agoLook up additive manufacturing of gradient alloys. Lots of people are trying to do things like print one end as a titanium alloy and transition to stainless steel in the same build.
- javiramos 9y agoOne of the practical problems with this is galvanic corrosion between the distinct metals.
- andrewflnr 9y agoYou may be interested in how jet turbine blades are made: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12474148 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12474148 That process seems a bit subtler, since it's more about conditions than composition, but the end result is varying properties along the turbine.
- curiousgal 9y agoHas science gone too far
- himom 9y agoThe Ripple coffee art printer better watch out, scientists are getting closer to 3D printing the “perfect” latte. ;)
- m3kw9 9y agoI thought this was gonna be some article describing a new latte they made